


shoreline

by Serie11



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Beaches, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, F/M, Metaphors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:47:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27539368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serie11/pseuds/Serie11
Summary: Kairi digs her feet into the sand, feeling the grittiness of it between her toes. No matter how old she gets, this has always been the same – the shore of the play island, and the endless horizon stretching out in front of her. Even now that she knows about other worlds, other possibilities, she still feels small while standing here.
Relationships: Kairi/Riku (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	shoreline

**Author's Note:**

> Done for rikai week day 1!

Kairi digs her feet into the sand, feeling the grittiness of it between her toes. No matter how old she gets, this has always been the same – the shore of the play island, and the endless horizon stretching out in front of her. Even now that she knows about other worlds, other possibilities, she still feels small while standing here. 

This was the beach that she was deposited onto after coming back from the end of the world; where she watched Sora fade into a starburst of light. This was the beach that she stood on as she watched two shooting stars fall from the sky, stars that landed in the ocean only to become her two best friends. This was the beach that they all played on the day that Kairi came to this world, Sora inviting her to join him and Riku to explore this place. 

Some things have changed on the island. The drawings that decorate the interior of the secret place have been chiselled onto the walls with her own hands, and she watched as other children added their own mark. The obstacle course on the far side of the island was added when she was ten, and it had been all the rage for the young people who rowed out here, day after day. 

And the sand and the water must have changed too, even though it’s a little bit harder to tell. The water that rushes around her ankles now isn’t the water that she splashed in as a child, just like how the sand has been pulled out to sea, and washed up on the shore, more times than she could ever count. Even so, they appear the same; locked into their eternal dance. She leans down and picks up a handful of sand, wet and clumpy in her hands. She could change its fate – take it to her room, put it in a bottle. Never touch it, for years and years and years, and when she was finally gone, maybe it would be emptied in the lush jungle of the main island in remembrance of her. She lets it drip from her fingers instead. Even if she could, there’s no need. Keeping the sand captured and still in her room would do neither of them any good, not when she can come to this beach and be greeted with the same sight that she’s shared all of her life. She has no need to corral and keep it. Even if it changes, it’s still made up of the same stuff. The beach has always been there for her, as she’s grown and changed, as it’s grown and changed. 

Perhaps she’s thinking about more than the sand. 

“Hey,” a voice calls out from behind her. 

Kairi doesn’t move her feet, but she does look over her shoulder. Riku treads across the shore barefoot, leaving a trail of footprints in the otherwise unbroken sand. There must have been a high tide last night. 

“Hey,” she says back, quieter. Just for him. 

“You ready to go back yet?” he asks. “Sun’s setting.” 

It is. She’s been standing here for a long time, just thinking. She’s up to her ankles in sand, the ocean washing it away and then piling it back up. Riku reaches out and pokes her ankle with his toe, lifting an eyebrow. 

“There’s easier ways to bury yourself, you know.” 

Oh, she knows. She looks; at the slope of his shoulders, and the curve of his arms. The round shape of his mouth that she has learnt so well. 

“Do you ever think about how it all could have turned out differently?” she asks. 

Riku turns to face the horizon. The sun slowly makes its journey downwards, until she can see the first hint of stars in the sky. “Nah,” he finally says. “No point. I like what I’ve got now.” 

She hums an agreement, and reaches out to twine her fingers with his. Riku squeezes her hand. 

She’ll take the wildness of the ocean shore, thanks. She likes him a lot more than she would if she’d tried to squeeze him into a bottle. 


End file.
